Come and take It

This is Western Weekend in Tyler County. Yesterday was parade and rodeo day, so we took the kids to both. They had a great time--they love seeing all the horses and wagons. The back road that we take to town is one of the paths the trail riders take into town so we even got our own private parade before the main event. There are probably a few dozen wagons that people build to look like covered wagons except they use truck tires and weld the frame out of tube steel.

Besides parades I'm not really sure where people ride these things. Most of them are part of trail riding clubs, but I don't know where these trails could be. After the parade, the fairgrounds have a rodeo with bullriding, roping, and group riding. For the entertainment of the adults, they also have a goat scramble where kids chase a goat and get a trophy if they manage to catch one. Our youngest tried this to no avail. Even more entertaining is what they call mutton bustin'. Take a bunch of six year old volunteers, slap on helmet, and put them on the back of a very unhappy sheep. Within seconds the kid is face down in the mud. You just can't that in the city.

Unlike the Dogwood parade next week that has floats people make, the main decoration for the western parade is shiny western clothes and flags. Texans love flags. Most Texans will tell you that you Texas is the only state that can fly its flag at the same height as the U.S. flag, but according to Wikipedia, the source of all true wisdom and knowledge, this is an urban legend. All state flags can be flown at the same height. Checking out the wiki for the Texas flag, I did find the flag I want, which is a flag with a star and a cannon with the phrase "Come and take It" across the bottom.